/s/ in the final position

Practice the /s/ sound with these words:

"juice,"

"rice,"

"donuts," and...

"cupcakes."

Practice phrases by having your child tell you how may cupcakes she sees in each package.  Targets may include "six cupcakes," or "twelve cupcakes" depending on the package.

Practice sentences by asking your child what kinds of juice she would drink.  Targets may include, "I would drink grape juice," "I would drink cranberry juice," and "I would drink orange juice."  Extend this task by asking her what juice she would not drink.

Practice conversation by having your child compare and contrast different donuts, from cake donuts to frosted donuts, from Krispy Kreme to Dunkin' Donuts.  Targets may include "I like donuts with frosting.  I like chocolate, vanilla and pink frosting.  I don't like plain donuts.  Dunkin' Donuts has the best donuts."

The /s/ sound can be a fun one to teach.  For a quick tip, tell your child to make the sound a snake makes, "ssssss."  You may even want to prolong the /s/ sound in a word to highlight it, as in "ssssssoup."  For more serious instruction, explain the sound in this way: "Put your teeth together.  Put your tongue behind your teeth.  Blow."  Have your child put her hand in front of her mouth so that she can feel the air coming out.

/ʃ/ in the initial position; "sh" as in "shoe," "shirt" and "show"

Practice the "sh" sound with these words:

"shopping cart," and...

"sherbet."

To practice phrases, label the different shopping carts.  Examples may include "big shopping cart," "little shopping cart," "black shopping cart," or "racing car shopping cart."

To practice sentences, ask your child what is in your shopping cart as you are shopping.  Targets may include, "Milk is in our shopping cart," or "Our shopping cart has ice cream."

To practice conversation, ask your child what you need to put in your shopping cart (i.e. what you need to shop for).  Targets may include "We need fruit in our shopping cart.  We also need vegetables.  We need juice in our shopping cart, too.  Don't forget to put bread in the shopping cart."  A variation is to ask your child what she thinks others are shopping for.  Targets may include, "I think she is shopping for a party.  She has cake and plates in her shopping cart.  Her shopping cart is full."

An easy way to cue for the /sh/ sound is to have your child say, "Shhhhh," as if she is 'shushing' someone.  If this doesn't work, then more formal instruction may be needed.  You may even want to prolong the /sh/ sound in a word to highlight it, as in "shhhhhherbet."  For more serious instruction, explain the sound in this way: "Put your teeth together.  Round your lips.  Put your tongue behind your teeth.  Blow."  Have your child put her hand in front of her mouth so that she can feel the air coming out.  Often times the /s/ and /sh/ sounds get blurred.  If your child is making a /s/ instead of a /sh/, this means the tongue should be positioned further back in the mouth (think roof of the mouth rather than behind the teeth).  If needed, you can use a tongue depressor or a spoon to gently push your child's tongue back.  Have her blow, and she should hear the difference.

/s/ in the initial position

Practice /s/ with these words:

"soda,"...

"soup,"...

 and "cereal."

To practice phrases, have your child identify the items.  Targets may include, "orange soda," "chicken noodle soup," and "Cheerios cereal."  I recommend spending a lot of time down these aisles, because there are so many products to label - you can really get a lot of practice.  Make the task more fun by taking turns labeling items (when you do it, you will be modeling the sound for your child).  Also, try seeing who can label the most items.  This is task can be done week after week, so your child can try to beat her high score.

To practice sentences, ask you child why she likes soda.  Targets may be as simple as "Soda tastes good," or a little more advanced like, "Soda tastes sweet," or "I like the bubbles in soda."

To practice conversation, you and your child may like to compare and contrast cereals.  For example, discuss the difference between Lucky Charms and Cheerios (unhealthy versus healthy food or the merits of leprechauns versus bees).  You can lead any discussion you want, just make sure to target the /s/ sound in as many sentences as possible.  I tend to ask questions that I think will elicit the target sound.  For example, I might ask, "How do we eat those cereals?"  The target would be "We eat those cereals with a spoon.  And a bowl.  We always put milk in the cereal."

The /s/ sound can be a fun one to teach.  For a quick tip, tell your child to make the sound a snake makes, "ssssss."  You may even want to prolong the /s/ sound in a word to highlight it, as in "ssssssoup."  For more serious instruction, explain the sound in this way: "Put your teeth together.  Put your tongue behind your teeth.  Blow."  Have your child put her hand in front of her mouth so that she can feel the air coming out.